I saw a fascinatingly sad Op-Ed in the Corvallis Oregon Gazette-Times yesterday.
Corvallis is renowned for having the most extensive bike lane system in the world* (see update at bottom of post). 95% of the arterial and collector streets have bike lanes, but in this town of 50,000 people (half of whom are students, faculty, or staff of Oregon State), that's just 45 miles of bike lanes. The city has even committed to sweep them once a month (twice a week during the "leaf-fall" month).
But there appears to be troubles in Paradise (yet again), and the city's Bicycle Advisory Committee has recommended removing the striped bike-lanes along one section of thoroughfare and replacing them with "sharrows". Nothing else changes. The street doesn't get narrower. But following Denver's lead, the stripe goes away, and the sharrow comes out.
The Op-Ed writer shows a sense of panic that is enlightening. She has placed her entire cycling faith in the safety that a 6" paint stripe promises to afford her. She reveals by her protest that she is afraid to ride her bike on a street without a stripe (regardless of available road width). When the bike lane ends, I presume she gets off her bike and walks on the sidewalk (more likely, she now RIDES on the sidewalk, inflicting the same terror on pedestrians she feels from automobiles).
And herein lies one of the many problems with bike lanes... rather than embolden cyclists to become more proficient and competent vehicular cyclists, as ProBike/BikeFed says they will, they instead inhibit the development of the skills and confidence cyclists need to use a bicycle safely as part of the transportation mix.
Fear-driven bicycle facilities and planning will ALWAYS result in cyclists being seen as, and acting as, third-class users of the transportation infrastructure.
I leave you with this oxymoron quote from the Op-Ed,
Bicycle lanes make it clear to car drivers and bicycle riders alike that bicycles belong on the street.Take heart, cyclists, and take your lane!
* UPDATE: Oddly enough, this massive effort on Corvallis' part has had little or no impact on bicycle trip mode share. Prior to their big installation of bike lanes, Corvallis had a 9+% trip mode share for bicycles (remember, fully 50% of this relatively flat town's population is attached to the university).
After the installation, the mode share had risen to about 10%... roughly the same percentage increase cycling had experienced nationwide. A question I've always wanted answered is: Did the bike lanes siphon cyclists off the local streets and onto the arterials and collectors where there are higher/faster traffic volumes?
Another question would be: Was this really another "bicycle control" installation to keep the bikes from interfering with the cars?
2 comments:
Mike,
What's your take on sharrows? I must confess that until you posted that article, I had never heard the term before. But of course I see their use on the major highway interchanges (like the high 5 & mixmaster).
If you gotta put paint down on a road for bikes I think the sharrow would be a good use of paint. It shows that bicycles do belong on the road & raises driver awareness that they may see a bicycle on the road and that it will be in a lane of traffic. I would love to see these on some of the major high traffic bicycle routes. Maybe we could even have a sponsored sharrow program! What is the projected $$$ cost (paperwork, labor and materials) of each sharrow? What is the projected lifespan of a sharrow?
And for my last question:
Bridgekeeper: What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen sharrow?...
Arthur: What do you mean? An African or European sharrow?
Bridgekeeper: Huh? I-- I don't know that! Auuuuuuuugh!
Bedevere: How do know so much about sharrows?
Arthur: Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
I have mixed feelings about them. I originally liked the idea as knee-jerk reaction as an alternative to politically motivated bike lanes (and believe me, if/when Dallas gets some bike lanes, they will only be driven by political expediencies).
But the application for them is tricky. The only application I have seen possible is on high-volume, higher-speed thoroughfares that have no on-street parking, and serve as bike routes (Frankford Road, Walnut Hill, and Royal Lane come to mind).
They can't be paint (too slippery even with glass beads, and too short-lived), so thermoplastic installations are required. Those can run between $250 and $500 each, installed, and the frequency of installation has no proven formula.
I've been interested in combining them with route numbers and placing them on both sides of all intersections, and then non-numbered every half mile or so.
You do realize that I am in possession of a certificate from the Sacred Order of the Knights of Antioch, naming me an Honorary Grenadier, and thereby being authorized to throw the Holy Hand Grenade on the internets as necessary.
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